Energy Trading Recruitment

If I may piggback on this post, is there any chance of landing a job at an energy company coming from a (non-energy) BB S&T program? I'm working in fixed income trading and am interested in working for an energy company, but I'm guessing that there is little overlap between the skills I'm developing now and those required in energy trading. My desk is fairly analytical (versus flow), and what little I know about energy trading is that it's more flow-based.

Energy companies havent been hit like wall street. Id say there will be similar recruitment to last year. My friends at energy firms seem to think theyre killing it right now and should be hiring.

you should be well aware that the energy hype may already be past its peak.

how do you figure?

I get the sense that hiring for energy and commodities trading in general are still strong. Of course the situation at individual banks will make a big difference. As far as energy/oil companies, I know of at least one who is actively recruiting for their trading programs. If you’re interested in working for an energy company, the skills and credentials used to get and gained from your current BB S&T internship are essentially the same; just be able to speak intelligently about the industry. Do your homework and have a good story about why energy.

As far as the energy hype being past its peak…energy looks to me like it will remain a hot topic for many many years to come. Just my opinion.

Why trade at an energy company? Why not go to a commodities desk at a bank? Almost every commodities desk on Wall Street is still hiring, and most have been almost immune to layoffs.

And the banks are still hiring people out of ugrad and MBA programs. So if you join a bank as a new analyst or new associate you probably have a very, very good shot of getting on a commodities desks because they'll be one of the few areas taking people.

Also keep in mind that even the biggest commodities desks (Goldman/J.Aron, Morgan Stanley, and Barclays Capital) are still growing. So the smaller ones (especially Lehman, Citi, Deutsche) have even more room to grow.

I work for a BB energy trading shop and was looking to move about 6 months ago. I got interviews at GS, DB, LB, CS and Citi and offers from 4 of them within a month. Energy hiring is very strong in Houston, New York and London.

People that work in the energy group of most BB's are getting major raises to jump ship in all areas of the floor. IT, Risk and Legal are the groups that are getting the largest raises.

WxOnWallStreet was at interned at my office and we added about 15 people during his internship.

Because while you are still making money, the rest of the bank is losing billions thus you get fucked on the bonus.

I'm curious what the hours are like in commodities trading? Are they similar to the rest of IB, 100+? I'm looking at the Citi Commodities Associate position in Houston.

I am in Nat Gas, I get in by 6:15-6:20 and leave anywhere from 4:30 (on an easy Friday) to 7 or later, with the average being 6:00-6:30.

From what I've seen, commodities as a whole tends to work longer hours than most other desks.

Hours are longest in structuring, often close to IBD.

Sales is usually the next longest (especially because some shops are combining sales and structuring in one group), but depends on which clients you cater to. I've had times where my typical schedule was 7am to 8 or 9. Then at good times maybe 7-7, with the occasional opportunity to leave at 6 if I was really lucky.

Trading is very product dependant. At my desk oil traders usually come in earliest, maybe around 6am or so, and then also usually leave the earliest. Power traders usually work the longest hours. On average traders typically worked a few hours per day less than sales, but when you're working on a lot of structured deals that all goes out the window.